“I’m scared,” she said in a rush, as if getting the words out fast would make them easier to survive. “I know I wanted the surgery and I still do, I really do, but it’s surgery, Em, and Ijust—” She stopped, breathing unevenly now. “I just wanted my sister.”
The guilt stabbed like a blade between the ribs.
“Oh, Soph.”
For a beat, neither of us said anything.
Then she drew in a shaky breath and straightened, recovering faster than I expected. Or maybe not at all.
“It’s fine,” she said. “Forget I said that.”
“I’m not going to forget you said that.”
“Great,” she muttered. “Love that for me.”
Despite everything, a tiny laugh slipped out of me.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” I said.
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
We said goodbye a minute later, neither of us sounding quite right when the call ended.
The apartment felt too quiet afterward.
I stayed sitting on the edge of the bed for a few seconds, phone still in my hand, staring at the dark screen without really seeing it. Then the first tear fell before I could stop it, hot and humiliating and stupidly overdue.
“Oh, come on,” I whispered to myself, swiping at my face.
That opened the floodgates.
I bent forward, pressing the heel of my hand against my mouth as the crying came properly. Sophie's face. The surgery. The thought of home. The thought of him.
The doorbell rang.
I froze.
For one absurd second I thought maybe Nora had come back early, but she always knocked like she was being chased by debt collectors.
The bell rang again.
Still wiping furiously at my face, I stood and crossed the apartment, grateful for the excuse to pull myself together. It was probably a delivery. Or someone with the wrong unit. Or one of those cheerful delegates from the building office who always wanted signatures for things no one remembered requesting.
I opened the door.
Pietro stood there as my brain failed to process him properly.
Dark coat. Cane in one hand. Hair damp from the outside. A faint crease between his brows as though he was already in the middle of a thought before I opened the door.
Then his eyes landed fully on my face and the whole expression changed.
“You’re back early,” I said, because shock had reduced me to stating the obvious.
His gaze moved over me once, quick and precise, taking in more than I wanted him to.
